We are 105 delegates coming from 16 countries in Asia, America and Europe, representing various migrant workersÆ organizations, migrant support groups, trade unions, women's groups, human rights organizations and religious bodies. We have come together on 28 August to 1 September 1996 in Seoul, Korea for the international migrants workshop on "Migrant Workers Challenging Global Structures".

We recognize that in Asia alone, there are an estimated 15 million migrant workers (documented and undocumented). Women migrant workers constitute an increasing percentage of this. Economic, political, sociocultural and religious marginalization characterize the plight of migrant workers.

World domination and control by advanced capitalist interests through structural adjustment, liberalization and deregulation programs of the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and World Trade Organization, abetted by the collusion of governments, have resulted in poverty, unemployment and underemployment, unequal distribution of wealth within and among nations, collapse of agriculture, and the absence of peace and security in countries within the region.

Advocates of globalization argue that it hastens the transfer of skills and technology and enhances productivity and efficiency. The reality is, globalization of economies reinforces the control of advanced capitalist interests on the less developed countries, leading to the continued marginalization, if not disintegration, of economic and sociocultural systems in many countries in the South.

Globalization requires the removal of trade and investment barriers to facilitate the movement of capital, investments, goods and labor across national borders. At the same time, advanced capitalist countries like the US and Japan adopt protectionist policies.

We are gravely concerned that globalization is leading to profit-driven economies that thrive on cheap and docile labor, especially of women, and societies that stress consumerism and competition. In turn, these have resulted in the erosion of human values, commodification of people (especially migrant workers), disintegration of societies, families and communities, racism, xenophobia, unsustainable lifestyles, and the degradation of the environment.

Demand for cheap labor has led to subcontracting mechanisms, adoption of ôtraineeö schemes and increasing feminization of migrant labor. This translates into absence of accountability of companies especially transnational corporations (TNCs), unjust wage structures, absence of economic and social security, and violence against women and migrants. The migrant workers, uprooted from their families and communities, have to work under hostile, abusive and exploitative situations, and are generally denied their right to organize and unionize.

We recognize the fact that migrant workers boost and contribute to the economic growth of receiving countries, and through their remittances, help prevent the collapse of some debt-ridden countries.

We reaffirm our position that migrant workers, whether documented or undocumented, have rights as workers and as human beings as embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, and other international conventions.

Initiatives have been taken by migrants and support groups in both sending and receiving countries in the areas of assistance to migrants, advocacy, lobbying, campaigning, networking, documentation/information and research.

The challenge to migrant workers, support groups and the people is great. Globalization gives rise to increasingly complex processes and situations. The relentless drive of the capitalists to pursue globalization, and the governmentsÆ abdication of their responsibility to the people, make our tasks even greater. We boldly face this challenge.

Therefore:

1. We advocate cooperation among peoples and social systems which are empowering, people-oriented, and which promote sustainable life and holistic, integral human values.

2. We reject the existing model of development promoted by IMF, WB, GATT/WTO and TNCs.

3. We reject APEC and similar free trade and investment mechanisms or agreements.

4. We hold governments accountable in providing decent employment for the people, and responsible for abetting the forces of globalization.

We commit ourselves to:

1. Intensify the migrantsÆ campaign against globalization and APEC

2. Strengthen and support the current lobbying and campaign initiatives for the ratification of the UN Convention for the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families

3. Continue and strengthen the migrant action alert mechanism to expose blatant violations of migrantsÆ human rights (e.g. through the Migrant Forum in Asia)

4. Undertake gender-sensitization especially among migrantsÆ advocates

5. Conduct a regional campaign on the issue of violence against women migrant workers

6. Declare a "Migrant Workers' Day" every year through joint actions and education programs across the region

7. Encourage trade unions and labor movements in each country to develop a migrant workers' agenda

8. Encourage trade unions in sending and receiving countries to build linkages on migrants' concerns

9. Develop, disseminate and share education materials (manuals, etc.) on globalization and migrants' issues

10. Work towards a common migrants documentation system (basic data, migrants' rights violations, migrants' directory, etc.)

11. Pressure governments to provide decent employment to the people, and encourage and monitor its efforts to undertake reintegration initiatives

12. Organize migrant savings/investment groups and alternative livelihood

13. Integrate the recommendations of this conference in our respective organizational programs.

Unanimously approved on 1 September 1996 in Seoul, Korea.

Signatories: